In a recent HBR survey, 40% of respondents stated that customer experience is their top priority for digital transformation. This comes as no surprise.
While heightened efficiency, productivity, and agility are key drivers for financial services digital transformations, the ultimate goal is to produce happier customers who stay loyal and buy more, thanks to the enhanced customer experiences transformations provide.
Financial services businesses all over the globe are benefitting from meeting customer demand for faster, smoother, and more personalised customer experiences through well-planned digital transformations.
So, how exactly is customer experience shaping digital transformation strategies? What do today’s consumers expect from financial services brands, and how can you deliver it through rapid, innovative, and strategic technological implementations?
In this article, you’ll find out. Just keep reading.
What consumers expect from financial services companies
According to PwC, 32% of all customers would stop doing business with a brand they loved after one bad support experience. Additionally, Forrester research tells us that customers are 2.4x more likely to stay loyal to a company when their problems are solved faster.
What do these figures tell us about consumer expectations today? Financial services customers want ease, simplicity, and speed. They want a completely headache-free journey – the ability to get the exact information or service they require from any device, any time.
From banking apps and user-friendly financial services websites to personalised financial recommendations and seamless customer support capabilities – digital transformations provide convenience at every step of the customer journey – and it’s what customers have come to expect.
And with 55% of companies without a digital transformation believing they have less than a year before they start losing market share, if you don’t meet these expectations, you risk getting pushed aside while the more digital-first companies take the lead.
The impact of digital transformation on customer experiences
The most successful financial services businesses adopt an innovation mindset with their digital transformations. They keep a close eye on changing consumer demands and new technologies to give their customers the “always-on” service they’re looking for.
Let’s take a deeper look at the digital transformation approaches financial services businesses are taking in 2022 and their impact on customer experiences.
Automation provides faster responses
Thanks to the power of new automation technologies, financial services companies can streamline their services to provide faster, smoother customer journeys.
Automated chatbots: 63% of customers don’t mind talking to a chatbot; granted they can speak to a human agent if needed. Automated chatbots give customers the instant response they expect and simultaneously free up agents to focus on more complex tickets – it’s a win-win.
Automated updates: With automated SMS and email messages now commonplace, financial services businesses can keep customers informed about their services and the customer’s applications or issues. This proactive communication leads to more satisfied customers and fewer support tickets.
Automated services: From loan applications via mobile apps to easy transfers, customers can follow a self-serve process, minimising the need to get in touch with your company’s human team and saving them countless hours managing their finances.
Data analytics improves customer satisfaction
You can’t talk about digital transformations without talking about data. Without data analytics, financial services companies have no idea what’s working, what’s not, and how they can improve their transformation approach.
Customer insights: By knowing what your customers want, how they want it, and when through data analytics insights, you can consistently meet their needs and create more targeted solutions.
AI feedback: Harnessing the power of AI, financial services companies can access customer feedback to keep improving customer experiences and digital financial service products.
Cloud computing: The cloud offers real-time insights giving entire financial services organisations live updates on customer trends and enabling the increased agility they need to respond to them.
Personalisation cultivates stronger relationships
According to Epsilon research, 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand that provides personalised experiences, and if you look at this Eco Consultancy report, 80% of companies said they saw an uplift since implementing personalisation. While marketers once debated the efficacy of personalisation, it’s now clear that consumers prefer it.
Product recommendations: Customers enjoy receiving product or service recommendations from financial services companies based on their previous activity.
Tailored guides/ information: By tracking your customer’s journey on your website, you’ll be able to personalise blog, resource, and email marketing to their specific interests.
Personalised marketing: Once you have robust analytics processes in place, you can tailor ad messaging and other marketing activity to resonate with your customers at every touchpoint.
Multichannel experiences offer convenience
According to Accenture, 89% of customers get frustrated when they have to repeat their question to multiple customer service agents. They want simplicity, not annoyance. In fact, 76% of people are more likely to recommend a brand that delivers simple experiences. One of the major ways to do that is by providing seamless multichannel customer experiences.
Cross-channel data: By connecting customer support data across every channel, financial service companies ensure their customers don’t have to begin a new interaction from scratch.
Channel consistency: Providing the same excellent customer experience and support on your website as your social channels is crucial to keeping customers satisfied – they want the option to get in touch from anywhere.
Device flexibility: Whether mobile, desktop, or Ipad, providing a true omnichannel experience is about reaching customers on any device, anywhere, at any time. So ensuring your website, apps, and other digital products are responsive is critical.
Change management fuels transformation success
According to Forbes, 70% of digital transformations fail due to employee resistance. So making change management and user adoption a top priority is essential for successful customer experience transformations.
CRM tools: Using a CRM tool, your entire financial services organisation can eliminate silos and make sure every department has the same customer insights to work with.
Training: Training for any new process or technology is vital to make sure every team member is comfortable with implementing it. If not – your customers will feel the effects of poor user adoption.
What changes can you make to transform customer experiences?
Now that we’ve highlighted the impact of digital transformations on the customer experience, we invite you to look at your own financial services digital transformation process and see what changes you can implement to improve the customer experience.
One crucial aspect of your customer experience transformation is implementing a strong quality assurance and testing strategy. QA and testing are vital for managing risk, ensuring each microelement of your transformation is working as it should, and delivering the transformation results and assurance your team and customers crave.
Need help developing your QA and testing strategy to improve the customer experience?
At Assured Thought, we listen closely to understand your organisation’s unique goals and challenges to develop a bespoke testing and quality assurance program to complement your objectives. Our testing solutions are delivered by QA and testing professionals and integrate seamlessly into your team to help you accomplish short and long-term digital transformation goals.
Get in touch with us today to develop a tailored testing strategy for your financial services business.
